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State of emergency declared in Charlotte after violent protests over police killing of black man

Charlotte’s police chief says he plans to show the video of the officer shooting the black man to the family. The video could be key to resolving the chasm between police and residents.

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Violence breaks out in Charlotte, N.C., for a second night as police confront a repeat of clashes ignited by the fatal police shooting of a black man.

By Jeffrey Collins And Mitch WeissAssociated Press

Thu., Sept. 22, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Violent protesters rampaged through parts of downtown Charlotte as anger continued to build over the deadly police shooting of a black man and the wildly different stories about what happened from authorities and the victim’s family and neighbours.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday night in the state’s largest city and called in the National Guard after Charlotte’s police chief said he needed the help.

A peaceful prayer vigil turned into an angry march and then a night of violence after a protester was shot and critically wounded as people charged police in riot gear trying to protect an upscale hotel in Charlotte’s typically vibrant downtown. Police did not shoot the man, city officials said.

Video obtained and verified by The Associated Press, which was recorded right after the shooting, shows someone lying in a pool of blood as people scream and a voice yells for someone to call for help. People are then told to back up from the scene.

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The Charlotte police chief says authorities will release police video of the shooting of a black man 'when there is a compelling reason' to do so.

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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said he plans to show the video of an officer shooting a black man to the slain man’s family, but the video won’t be immediately released to the public.

Protesters hold up signs during a demonstration against police brutality in Charlotte on Wednesday following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott the previous day.
(NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Putney has said that 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott refused officers’ repeated commands to drop a gun, but he said during a news conference that the video does not definitely show Scott pointing a gun at anyone.

Putney said he is working to honour the request from the family of Scott to view the video.

“Right now my priority is the people who really are the victims of the shooting,” Putney said. “I’m telling you right now if you think I say we should display a victim’s worst day for consumption, that is not the transparency I’m speaking of.”

Meanwhile, the state prosecutor in Charlotte will ask the State Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting.

District Attorney R. Andrew Murray said in a statement Thursday that he was making the request for a state investigation at the request of Scott’s family.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday night in the state’s largest city and called in the National Guard after Charlotte’s police chief said he needed the help. (ADAM RHEW)

The video could be key to resolving the chasm between police, who say Scott refused repeated commands to drop his gun, and residents who say he was unarmed.

As officials tried to quell the unrest, at least three major businesses were asking their employees to stay home for the day as the city remained on edge. Mayor Jennifer Roberts said earlier Thursday the city was considering a curfew.

A prayer vigil for a black man killed by a police officer turned violent, with police clashing with protesters Wednesday night in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Siner)

But Putney said during the news conference that he saw no reason to impose a curfew. He said Charlotte now has more resources to deal with problems, following a declaration of a state of emergency and the arrival of the North Carolina National Guard and more officers from the State Highway Patrol.

The unrest took many by surprise in Charlotte, the banking capital of the South with a population of 830,000 people, about 35 per cent of them black. The city managed to pull through a racially-charged shooting three years ago without the unrest that erupted in recent years in places such as Baltimore, Milwaukee and Ferguson, Missouri.

In 2013, Charlotte police charged one of their own, Randall Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter within days, after the white officer shot an unarmed black man who had been in a wreck and was looking for help. The jury deadlocked and the charge was dropped last summer. The city saw a few protests but no violence.

Protesters block an intersection near the Transit Center as they march uptown in Charlotte. The unrest following Tuesday afternoon’s fatal shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott by a black officer took many by surprise in Charlotte, the banking capital of the South with a population of 830,000 people. (Jeff Siner)

On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters who were shouting “black lives matter” and “hands up, don’t shoot” left after police fired flash grenades and tear gas after the shooting. But several groups of a dozen or more protesters stayed behind, attacking people, including reporters, shattering windows to hotels, office buildings and restaurants and setting small fires.

At one point, television news helicopters showed protesters on the loop highway around downtown, trying to stop cars for several minutes before police arrived.

“My heart bleeds for what our great city is going through,” McCrory said on WBTV-TV. He was mayor of Charlotte for 14 years before becoming governor.

Authorities said three people and four police officers were injured, but those figures had not been updated early Thursday morning. Videos and pictures on Twitter showed reporters and other people being attacked.

The violence happened amid questions about what happened when Scott was shot and killed in the parking lot of his condominium complex. Police said Scott had a gun and refused several orders to drop his weapon. Scott’s family and neighbours said he was holding a book.

“He got out of his car, he walked back to comply, and all his compliance did was get him murdered,” said Taheshia Williams, whose balcony overlooks the shady parking spot where Scott was Tuesday afternoon. She said he often waited there for his son because a bicycle accident several years ago left him stuttering and susceptible to seizures if he stayed out in the hot sun too long.

Putney was angered by the stories on social media, especially a profanity-laced, hour-long video on Facebook, where a woman identifying herself as Scott’s daughter screamed “My daddy is dead!” at officers at the shooting scene and repeating that he was only holding a book.

Putney was adamant that Scott posed a threat, even if he didn’t point his weapon at officers, and said a gun was found next to the dead man. “I can tell you we did not find a book,” the chief said.

Not long after the Facebook video was posted Tuesday night, the first night of destructive protests began near the shooting scene, about 24 kilometres northeast of downtown Charlotte. Dozens of demonstrators threw rocks at police and reporters, damaged squad cars, closed part of Interstate 85, and looted a stopped truck and set a fire. Authorities used tear gas to break up the protests.

The distrust of police continued after Wednesday’s shooting of the protester.

“We protesting. Why the hell would we target each other?” Dino Davis said. “They say it was the tear gas, and it looked like one the tear gas exploded. But I think it was a rubber bullet because some of those rubber bullets can penetrate.”

Police said the plain clothes officer who shot Scott, identified as Brently Vinson, has been placed on leave, standard procedure in such cases. Three uniformed officers at the shooting scene had body cameras; Vinson did not, police said.

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